Pro-privatization robocall blasts ports executive

A robocall aiming to convince listeners to support a privatization of Virginia's ports began circulating as early as Monday. In addition to advocating for a management change at the state-run terminals, the script blasts an outgoing top port executive, calling him overpaid.

The call – which according to its script is authorized by Checks and Balances for Economic Growth – comes almost two months before the Virginia Port Authority board is scheduled to make a key determination about whether to accept a proposal from APM Terminals or a consortium led by JPMorgan IIF Acquisitions LLC. And it comes as state lawmakers are considering intervening to delay that decision.

The call says Joe Dorto, the CEO of state-formed nonprofit Virginia International Terminals, made "$6 million in pay and bonuses in just three years," or as the female voice later puts it "megabucks." And the narrator notes that the high compensation at the ports comes as pay in the state is frozen for law enforcement officers and teachers.

According to a recent state study of port operations, Dorto's total compensation was $754,000 in fiscal year 2012 and $750,000 the previous year. However his pay was boosted in 2010 when he took a cash payout from a supplemental retirement plan worth $3.7 million.

The robocall does more than criticize Dorto's pay package. It also calls VIT a money-losing operation, something company executives and opponents of the current privatization efforts have vehemently denied.

Reached Tuesday afternoon, Dorto said he found the call strange and disagreed with its assertions.

"The first I heard it is yesterday," he said. "I have no idea where it came from or what point it serves, but I feel like I'm paid what I deserve for my accomplishments."

Dorto said his salary is negotiated, approved by a business consultant and within the range of what executives at similarly sized businesses receive.

Dorto is leaving VIT and his last day will be March 31.

"I'm a short-timer at this point, so why they single me out, I don't know," he said.

Checks and Balances for Economic Growth is 501(c)(4), a group defined by its federal tax code status and which is allowed to both lobby and take part in political campaigns so long as it maintains as its core purpose the promotion of social welfare.

According to its 2011 annual filing with the IRS, its most recent, the group was formed in 2002. The document says the group is based in Washington, D.C., and took in more than $2.2 million in revenue in 2011.

Dan Perrin, listed as the group's president, said he couldn't comment on the robocall immediately, when reached by the Daily Press Tuesday, though he said he would call back later that night.

Checks and Balances aired TV spots targeting U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and President Barack Obama during the 2012 elections, and Perrin is an occasional contributor to the popular conservative RedState blog.

Virginia Maritime Association vice president Art Moye, whose organization opposes the two proposals, called the robocall slimy and "a misinterpretation."

Moye said Checks and Balances used a phone list that included lawmakers and businesspeople. It's unclear who paid for the call, he said, but "we intend to find out."

But that could be difficult.

Groups like Checks and Balances are not required to disclose their donors. And Perrin did not call the Daily Press back Tuesday night before press time.

Update: Though it's not clear who funded the robocall, an APM official said that it was not involved in the effort. "Not our style," said John Crowley, APM's vice president for law and regulatory affairs, in an email late Tuesday.

Update 2: There are actually two Checks and Balances robocalls circulating in the area, the second call focuses on the benefits putting the port under management.

It also seems to suggest that a privatization would mean the end of a unionized workforce at the port, which is a fallacy. Federal rules and a East Coast-wide long-term labor contract ensure union jobs in container shipping, and neither private proposer has said their bids would change in any way the hiring of union dockworkers.

Like the first call, the second script calls for listeners to contact their lawmakers. Althought the privatization decision rests with the Virginia Port Authority board, the General Assembly potentially could interfere with an upcoming vote by inserting language specific to the ongoing public-private partnership process for the ports into the budget.